each crime and every kindness
by theactualworst
Summary: "Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future." -David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas. Sonja isn't a warrior or fighter. She's a healer, her uncle's ambassador. But the minute she steps into the Sky people's camp, she helps trigger events that no one could ever expect to happen.
1. sonja, clarke

Sonja rode closer and closer on her horse to the towering arch that protruded from the ground, glinting in the daylight as if it was a metal sun. As she drew nearer to the fence surrounding the newly made settlement, she felt her hands shake as she gripped the reins of her horse and stopped to gaze at the fallen ship. She had hears rumors about these Sky people.

People who had fallen from the heavens, with weapons from Before.

People that weren't afraid to attack Trikru.

As she had trekked across Trikru's territory she had heard whispers in the last trading post she had been to that one of these Sky people had killed nearly twenty innocent villagers in cold blood. _If only one of them has the ability to commit such atrocities against twenty, how do I stand a chance against the entirety of them?_

But she had to be brave, her uncle, _her people_ , needed to know if these strangers, this Skaikru was a threat or potential ally. _Anyone is better than Trikru or Azgeda at this point,_ Sonja thought.

Grimacing and pulling out the white flag she had brought with her, Sonja rode forward, certain that she was meeting her doom. _The enemy of my enemy of my friend though,_ Sonja contemplated. _And if they've pissed of Trikru as much as I've heard, all the more better for us._

"Grounder at gate!" A guard yelled.

Clarke's head shoot up from the map of the tunnels she and Bellamy were looking at. Eyes meeting for a half second, they both started for the exit of the Council Room towards the North Gate.

"This can't be happening." Clarke voiced aloud. She knew it was only a matter of time before the Grounders came after them for the massacre Finn caused but so soon? It had been barely a day since they had found him and Murphy at the village and brought them back to Camp Jaha. Things were… tense to say the least between everyone.

She glanced at Bellamy as they started to jog to the Gate, trying to read his expression. He looked ready for a fight, which in all likelihood was coming.

"Get off the horse! Drop any weapons on you!" The guards near the gate yelled, tearing Clarkes focus back to the grounder.

As the entrance of the Camp came into view, she saw someone dismounting from a horse, holding a white flag attached to what appeared to be a spear. They struck it into the ground and pulled out two daggers and threw them alongside the flag. The hooded Grounder stepped forward a few steps, raising their hands causing every nearby guard to aim their gun at the mystery Grounder.

"I'm unarmed, I promise you that." A feminine voice called out in English. Clarke was starting to get more and more unnerved by this stranger. Most of the Grounders she thought didn't know English and even less were probably willing to come under a white flag of peace.

"Who are you? What is it that you want from us?" Abby interrogated. Clarke turned around to find that her mother had followed the small crowd that had gathered a healthy distance from the entrance to Camp Jaha.

"My name is Sonja. I am an ambassador from the Water Tribe." The Grounder pulled back her hood revealing a young woman with wavy brown hair that was pulled back, dark eyes and tan skin that almost had a bronze quality about it. The girl looked directly at the Chancellor. "And as for what I want, I just want to talk. I think we have a lot in common, especially when it comes to matters regarding Trikru."


	2. bellamy

Bellamy had come to the conclusion that he had finally gone insane. He had come to this realization because there was a Grounder standing in the middle of the Council Room, willingly divulging information about herself, and who was apparently not apart of the faction of Grounders they were fighting, Trikru she had called them. He had yet to decide whether or not this was new problem to deal with on top of Trikru and Mount Weather or a goddamn miracle.

He was suddenly jerked back into reality by Clarke jabbing in him his ribs with her elbow, jerking her head towards the Grounder to pay attention. The Chancellor had just walked in along with Byrne, gun in hand. _Is this going to be a discussion or interrogation?_ Bellamy thought.

"I'm sorry if this seems severe," Abby said unapologetically, referring to Byrne's drawn weapon, "But we feel the need to take precautions."

"I understand, though I would prefer it if that gun wasn't so closely pointed to my head," the girl quipped. Now that his attention was on her, Bellamy studied her features more closely. Her dark brown eyes had a kindness too them, with a few freckles across her tawny cheeks and one on the center of her nose. Her clothes were in lighter colors than any of the other Grounders he'd seen before and seemed to be higher in quality in way.

She certainly didn't look like a threat. _But then again, look at Clarke or Raven or O_ , Bellamy thought. _She's a threat until we can prove otherwise; we don't need anymore problems than we already have._

"How do we know we can trust you?" Clarke said, voicing Bellamy's thought. "How do we know that you aren't lying about being from Trikru?"

"You'll just have to decide that for yourself, I guess. But I do promise you that the clan you're fighting are no friends of mine or my people."

Abby glanced at Byrne and back at Clarke and him. The Chancellor took a breath, "All right, let's talk."

"As I said before my name is Sonja of the Water Tribe. In the language that we speak in my Tribe, we are known as Aguatri. About two, maybe three months ago we saw what we assume was the first of your people of falling to earth. We didn't know what to make of it. When your larger ship, I'm guessing, came down, we were more than curious and wanted answers.

Our Tribe's king, sent me as an ambassador-"

"I'm sorry did you say king?" Bellamy asked, not really believing what he had just heard.

"Yes, we have a king or chief or whatever you want to call it. So does Ice Nation," Sonja answered. "They're another clan."

"How many clans are there?" Abby questioned.

"Well that's the tricky part. There is the Coalition and there's you and me. The Coalition is an alliance of sorts of twelve clans, tribes, peoples, etc. The leader of the Coalition, the Commander, is chosen from one of the clans at a young age by a series of trials. The Woods Clan, or Trikru, is currently leading the Coalition. It is meant to keep the clans from fighting. Water Tribe is not apart of it."

"Why not? If it's meant to keep the peace than why not join?" Clarke asked.

"I didn't say it worked," Sonja retorted, "There was a lot of bloodshed before and after the Coalition was formed. There is vying for power between every clan, trying to lead with the next Heda, the next Commander. Aguatri didn't want to be apart of that. We keep to ourselves, we keep to our territories. We thought it better to try to survive on our own then having to deal with a nest of vipers every day."

"So where does that leave us?" Bellamy asked. If this Woods Clan, this Coalition was as bloodthirsty and powerful as the Grounder girl described then they were in trouble.

"If the rumors that I have heard about the Sky people are true, then you're in trouble," she responded.

"What rumors?" Abby asked slowly, sharing a glance with Clarke.

"That a Sky person with a gun killed nearly two dozen innocent villagers. That all these Sky people walk out with these weapons from Before and are eager to hurt anyone they meet."

"Part of that's true, about the boy with the gun at least," Clarke said, nearly whispering. "But we just want to get our people back from the Mountain."

"The Mountain?" Sonja questioned.

"Mount Weather, the Mountain Men have some of our people and we just want to get them back." Clarke said again.

Sonja sat still for a moment then smirked.

"What are you laughing at?" Abby remarked, confused and a little taken aback.

"Just that it would be better for you and the Woods Clan to be allies rather than enemies. The Coalition probably hates the Mountain just as much you do, or so I've heard."

"Why?"

"The Mountain Men took their people too."


	3. clarke, jackson

Clarke was one more problem away from having complete nervous breakdown. Not only had Finn committed a massacre, her friends were still trapped in Mount Weather with no idea what real dangers lay within and they were on the verge of war with the Grounders and to top it all off, this newcomer, Sonja of the Water Tribe or Aguatri or whatever clan, had told them they could've avoided it all.

 _Maybe we can still can. Maybe it's not to late,_ Clarke hoped but she felt deep down that not only Finn's actions but her and Bellamy's had long forfeited any possibility of an alliance with the Grounders.

 _The Dropship, the bridge, Anya, torturing Lincoln, we started it when we could've stopped it._ These moments replayed over and over in her head as she sat at a table outside of the Mess Hall. There was a part of her that to justify what they did, that it was saving her people, her friends, which was true, and that the Grounders would've killed them if they hadn't. It was the same part of her that told Clarke not to trust Sonja.

Currently the dark-haired Grounder was conferring more with her mother in Medical. Abby wanted to see if there was any possibility of making any sort of partnership with Sonja's people. Clarke knew her reasoning for it but her thoughts kept turning to the mess that was the attempted truce with Anya.

 _What if she's a spy or assassin? What if she isn't from the Water Tribe like she says she is? What if-_

There were to many what ifs about Sonja but there wasn't exactly anything Clarke could do about her suspicions. Her mother was desperate for any type of help the people of the Ark could get and Sonja had given them no real reason to make an enemy out of her. Still, Clarke couldn't shake the feeling that the Ambassador wasn't telling the whole truth.

"Credit for your thoughts?" Bellamy sat down across from her, causing Clarke to jump a little as she was pulled from her train of thought.

"What? Oh, just stressing over all the problems we've gotten ourselves into," She said with a sigh.

"Still processing what the Ambassador said?" Bellamy asked. Clarke met his eyes and was sure that the mixed expression of both worry and irritation was mirrored on her own.

"Yes, we could've stopped this from happening, _I_ could've stopped this, I keep on thinking-" Clarke started to ramble.

"Hey it's ok. I get that too but we need to focus on the problems we have now not the ones in the past." He said giving her a reassuring look.

Clarke gave him an almost smile before turning back to her previous doubts about Sonja. "Do you trust her? Sonja?" Clarke blurted out.

"No," Bellamy replied, "I just have a feeling that she isn't telling us something. But your mom is now trying to get all buddy-buddy with her, so there's not much we can do unless you want to go straight out with treason. Which I don't recommend we do," Bellamy said, cutting off Clarke's protest, "Since I'm still not her favorite person."

At least she had Bellamy on her side.

"Show me the map of the tunnels again. I want to start getting a plan down." Bellamy said. Nodding in agreement with him, she complied.

When Jackson walked back into the small Medical center that had been hastily constructed after a nap that wasn't nearly long enough, he was surprised, to say the least, to see the Grounder that had arrived the day before examining the small shelves of medicine and salves lined against the walls.

"Can I help you?' He asked, causing the young woman to jump slightly and turn around. This was the first time he had gotten a good view of her since she had entered Camp Jaha. Her brown hair was now pulled down, falling just at her shoulders. Her surprised expression from when he had startled her had quickly become a toothy smile that made her brown eyes twinkle almost. Jackson realized suddenly that she was very pretty.

"I was just looking at the herbal remedies that you've come up with," She said.

"Not trying to rob us blind, are you?" He asked, jokingly.

"No, no," She said with a smile, "Just curious about what medicines you all use or have come up with, healer's inquisition or intuition, I guess. Sorry if I was seeming a little nosy." She said apologetically.

"Don't worry about it. You said healer, is that like a doctor?" Jackson asked.

"I guess so, I mean we don't have any of the technology like you do from Before but we make do with what's in nature and we've come up with a good many substitutions and new innovations from what we do have." She replied. "I'm guessing you're a doctor?"

"Yeah, one of the very few that made it to the ground besides Abby. She was and kind of still is my mentor," He responded. "Where is she by the way? I thought she said that she wanted to discuss a treaty of some kind with you?"

"We were talking about some type of trade agreement at least, a very, very vague one but she had to go deal with a tech or security issue of some sort with woman named Byrne, I think?" She said, a little unsure. "Do you think she's a good leader?" The girl blurted out. "Abby, I mean. When I was talking to her in the one large room, there seemed to be a bit of animosity her and the blonde girl and dark haired guy she was with."

"I think Abby is doing her best right now, she wants our people to be safe and she's scared to lose anybody else. Clarke, the girl that was in there was in with you, is her daughter. She and Bellamy, the guy, were the first of our people to land back on Earth and from what I've heard they were the leaders of that group, who've been captured by the Mountain Men.

I think Bellamy and Clarke want to get back their friends and are willingly to do whatever it takes to get them back. And now we're facing war and we were barely surviving before that. Abby wants to sue for peace and play it safe, but she's scared that she'll lose her daughter again." Jackson paused. His thoughts turned to his own mother, who hadn't survived the crash, and to Jake Griffin. He knew Abby felt guilty turning him in every single day and now she was facing a similar situation with her daughter.

"I understand. My… my parents both died when I was very young and my uncle….He wants to protect me and keep me safe but he's….. He has a important position in our Tribe and has a duty to others, not just me." She gave a small smile. "I'm Sonja, by the way"

"Jackson." He replied, returning the smiling.


	4. sonja

Sonja was starting to feel edgy after four days of being trapped in the Sky People's camp. Abby, Clarke and a girl named Raven had gone in search of a radio tower or something while Bellamy and his sister had sneaked out to find another way into Mount Weather. Sonja, meanwhile, was hardly allowed to leave the room she had been given and was followed 24/7 by some steely eyed, suspicious guard when she was able to escape the confines of her room. Not that there was much for her to do in the Camp anyways.

Everyone gave her an untrusting look whenever she passed them, while understandable, _I've given them no reason to trust me, why should they,_ it still stung. But she ignored their stares and held her head high, just as her aunt had taught her, and continued on her way to Medical.

Sonja was given permission to visit the small Medical center that was in the Camp to talk to Jackson. Her heart jumped, ever so slightly, at the thought of seeing him. She shook her head at the notion of even the smallest possibility of a crush but she did like him and he seemed to like and even trust her.

He told her stories about growing up on the Ark and the medical training he had and even some stories about Abby. Sonja in return talked about Aguatri, though vaguely, and growing up with her cousins and answered his questions about Earth.

 _I haven't been telling the whole truth though. I haven't told anyone here who I really am or that I'm technically not allowed to be in Trikru's territory right now. But I need to know who the real enemy is. If there is a war the King needs to know. I can't let him down again, I can't let what happened to Jace happen again, I can't-_

She stopped, realizing she was right outside of Medical. Taking a deep breath, Sonja calmed herself. _It's not going to happen again._ But she still had her doubts. She just wished her uncle were here to advise her. Collecting her thoughts, she walked in.

"Hey, a scouting party went and found some of the herbs you suggested we use for the antibiotic paste!" Jackson said excitedly, turning around from his work station, where indeed many small plants were lying.

"That's great!" Sonja said half-heartedly.

Jackson caught the lack of enthusiasm in her voice, his expression turning worrisome. "Is everything alright?"

"I guess, just missing home," She replied. "I'm scared of what will happen if war does break out. I'm trapped here and my people don't know a single thing that's going on. I just feel…. useless. Out of place." Sonja suddenly felt like she was a child again, trying to tag along with her cousins but always being pushed to the back. She would always be the orphan; that poor, lonely little girl; a good healer, an ambassador for the King even but always hidden from view. Sonja didn't mind being forgotten that much, she had a lot more freedom than others in her position. She was content with her lot in life but it was lonely.

"You haven't been useless, not at all," Jackson said. Sonja looked at him in surprise. "Seriously, you've come to Medical everyday to help out here, you decided to try to make peace with us instead of war, you continually try to come to an agreement with Abby about a treaty, you're kind to everyone here. You've put your trust in us, even though we haven't given you a reason to. To do what you've done for us astonishes me."

Sonja gave him a small smile. "Thank you," she said quietly. She moved beside him at the worktable and started sorting out the different herbs into small groups to be made into salve.

"If you don't mind me asking, what do you miss most about home?" Jackson asked as they started to work.

"I think I miss the ocean most of all. I've always had good memories of being at the shore and in the water." She responded wistfully.

"What's it like?" Jackson inquired.

"It's big and it seems to go on forever sometimes, like the horizon has no end."

"That seems a little scary." Jackson replied.

"Says the man who lived in space," Sonja said laughing a little.

"True." Jackson said, returning the laugh.

"But it isn't scary to me, I guess, since I've known it all my life. My cousins and I would go sailing everyday during the summer months when we were kids. We would sneak out at night to go swimming and see how far we could swim before my Aunt would find out we were missing. I miss those days, my family was a lot happier back then." Sonja said with nostalgia lacing her voice.

"What happened?" Jackson asked.

Sonja hesitated, not knowing if she wanted to share her family tragedy just yet. But before she could reply, the warning siren that signified the main gate opening went off. Both stopped what they were doing and started towards the exit of the Medical Center.

As they neared the gate, Sonja saw a dark skinned man with similar clothing to the rest of the Sky People enter the camp along with Clarke, Abby and Raven.

"That's Jaha, but that's impossible, he couldn't have made it to the ground." Jackson remarked with disbelief. Before, Sonja could inquire further about this newcomer, Abby spoke to the gathering crowd.

"The Grounders have given us a message, we have two days to leave. If we don't we die."


	5. bellamy, sonja

**I'm not dead! So sorry for the very, very delayed update. I have been super busy with classes (college is long and hard yo) and my old computer crashed, so I had to wait to get a new one to get back to writing! Hopefully updates will be more frequent, I have a break coming up after my exams in a few weeks.**

 **Please leave reviews!**

* * *

Bellamy paced furiously outside the council room, waiting for Abby, Clarke and the rest to finish deliberating. He had only ever experienced true fear back on the Ark. Hiding Octavia, keeping her a secret from the rest of the world, his mother being floated when they were found out had kept him on edge for much of his life. But on Earth, he felt nothing but calm.

If Jaha wanted him dead, so what, risking going back to Earth was a death sentence already. Fighting grounders and for his and his friends' daily survival gave him a sense of purpose and something to focus on. He thought being on Earth should've made things easier. Hunt, eat, sleep, make sure your friends don't die, survive. But then again, the ground turned out to be full of surprises including the grounders themselves, who were decidedly going to kill them.

Since Mount Weather, Bellamy had felt the panic and fear rise back up in him, causing him to think that survival might not be an option for him any longer.

 _No, no, can't think like that. I have to keep fighting. They're depending on me, Octavia, Raven, Mont, Jasper, Clarke-_

With the thought of Clarke, he calmed down ever so slightly. They had become team, working to combat the problems that might be their ultimate end. Bellamy no longer felt any ill will towards her, he trusted her, was even her friend now. Maybe one day he could even lo-

But this wasn't the time for it, one day maybe, but not now.

"Bellamy!" Raven almost yelled, causing his head to snap up and to stop pacing. "I've called your name out five times dude."

"Sorry, just lost in thought." He apologized.

"I get it. They still talking it up in there?" Raven inquired, nodding her head to the council door.

"Yep." Bellamy grunted, he had been pissed, to say the least, when he hadn't been allowed to attend the meeting.

"C'mon, let's take a walk. You need to get out." Raven said, starting to walk slowly with her crutch towards the door leading outside.

"I want to be here when they end, I need to know what the plan is for-"

Raven cut him off. "Clarke is going to tell you no matter what. Now come on before you wear a hole in the floor."

Feeling there was no point in arguing with her, Bellamy followed Raven outside and around the old section of the Ark without a set destination. They made small conversation, both trying and failing to think of things to talk about that weren't relating to war, Finn, or anything other of the near-death experiences that had consumed their lives. Bellamy had asked Raven how her leg was doing but she replied with small "It's alright", and a scowl.

They had walked slowly around the inner perimeter of the Camp twice when Clarke and a few others exited the building, indicating the meeting's end. Clarke made her way over to them with look of utter exhaustion on her face.

"That bad huh?" Bellamy asked, almost dreading her response.

"All they did was argue about whether we should stay and fight or leave or try for peace. My mom said that we needed to regroup tomorrow to try to think about it more clearly."

Bellamy wanted to say something to reassure her or try to start figuring out a new plan but nothing came to mind. The feeling of exhaustion that Clarke had exuded had spread to him and he wanted nothing more now then to try get some sleep before clusterfuck that would be tomorrow hit him. He bid the two girls good night, at left to find his bunk.

As he walked back around Alpha station to his assigned quarters, he saw someone in the corner of his eye jogging towards Raven's gate. Despite his heavily drooping eyes and slowly forming migraine, his curiosity got the better of him and he followed the person towards the small opening in the fence.

Bellamy quickly and quietly caught up to them and grabbed their shoulder turning them around.

" _Que demo_?! Bellamy, what are you doing here?" Sonja had been caught off guard, swearing in another language and very nearly hitting Bellamy in the nose.

"I could ask you the same question." Bellamy interrogated.

Sonja paused, seeming to carefully chose what she was going to say next.

"I was trying to leave, I need to get back to Aguatri." She said slowly.

"Why?" Bellamy couldn't tell if he was relieved that this grounder was leaving or mad because they were losing a potential ally.

"I'm not…" She paused again, trying to grasp at what she wanted to say. She started to rub her thick leather bracelet on her left wrist, a motion he had caught her doing a few times. "I'm not strictly supposed to be here."

"What do you mean? I thought you said that you were sent as ambassador for your clan's chief or whatever?"

"I was but Trikru doesn't know I'm here or any of the clans, and my people aren't really supposed to pass through their lands without their permission." Sonja said quietly.

Bellamy decidedly angry now, "What?!" He half yelled, half whispered.

"Keep your voice down!" Sonja shushed him. "I did what I had to do, I'm sorry Bellamy. But if Trikru finds me here, then it means trouble for all of us."

Bellamy didn't know what to say. He felt betrayed, angry, confused and just so tired that if wished that this was all bad dream.

"That's not an explanation." Was all he could manage to get out.

"I know. I'm sorry." She looked away abashedly. "But I need to get back to my people, I have my duty to them and I need to protect them. Can you at least understand that?"

"Yeah, I can." Bellamy whispered. Sonja shouldered a small pack that had been lying near the fence and started to go but paused and turned back to him.

"Stay safe, Bellamy. I hope this isn't the last time we see each other." She said. Bellamy merely nodded in reply, watching her make her way through the hole in the fence and into the darkness of the surrounding woods.

* * *

Sonja felt both guilty and relieved when she could no longer see the lights of Camp Jaha through the thick foliage. She honestly did not want to leave but she had to. She was a dead man if Trikru found her. She trudged along through the woods silently, collecting her thoughts.

The Sky People hadn't been what she thought. They did have weapons that seemed more dangerous and terrifying than anything she had ever seen but they seemed as scared and terrified as anyone to be in a new place, struggling to just survive. Some of them had warmed up to: Abby, Clarke, even Bellamy, and Jackson.

The thought of Jackson made her smile a bit. For whatever reason, she had a good feeling about him. Sonja didn't know if it was simply because he had been kind to her or that she was just overthinking things but it made her smile nonetheless.

 _It's silly. I shouldn't be worrying about it-_

Sonja stopped. She had thought she had heard the slightest crack of a twig being broken. Turning in the direction of the noise, she swiveled in the darkness to see two looming figures, feel a sharp blow to the head and then darkness.


End file.
